The present invention generally relates to providing a telephonic connection between a calling party and a called party. More particularly, the present invention relates to attempting to connect the calling party to the called party by simultaneously ringing numbers in an alternative number list associated with a main number of the called party.
The popularity of the cellular telephone evidences the fact that modern telephone users desire to be reachable to calling parties without being restricted by physical location. Before cellular telephones were so widely available, telephone users in many areas could subscribe to a call forwarding service from their local telephone service provider. Conventional call forwarding could be used to associate the subscriber""s main number with an alternative number. When a calling party attempted to reach the subscriber, while the call forwarding service was activated, the alternative number would be rung, instead of the main number. Thus, a subscriber could enjoy the freedom to change its physical location, while maintaining some limited ability to receive calls that where actually made to the user""s main number. The subscriber could typically forward incoming calls to any other telephone number.
Unfortunately, conventional call forwarding suffered from various shortcomings. First, call forwarding is exclusive, in that when the call forwarding service is activated, all calls to the main number are forwarded to the alternative number without ringing the main number. This exclusivity could cause problems when, for example, the subscriber returned to the physical location of the telephone corresponding to the main number, but forgot to deactivate the call forwarding service. Moreover, the conventional call forwarding service was limited to a single alternative telephone number at any one time. When the service is activated, the alternative number is rung, but no further attempts are made to reach the call forwarding service subscriber. So, if the subscriber has moved from the physical location of the telephone to which the call forwarding is directed, the subscriber will not receive the incoming call.
A subsequent attempt was made to provide an improved call forwarding service, wherein the main number and a single alternative number are rung simultaneously. This service was primarily intended to ring a subscriber""s cellular telephone, when a calling party attempts to call the subscriber""s main wireline (land line) number. This service is implemented largely through the use of a Service Control Point (SCP), but can be difficult to configure and to modify, because the conventional SCP does not have tools for easy configuration and modification of its features. Because the alternative numbers are stored in the SCP, it is expensive to configure the service and to modify the service, once configured. In addition, this service did not enable a call attempt to a cellular telephone to simultaneously ring an associated wireline alternative number. That is, this service did not accommodate setting up a cellular telephone number as a main telephone number with a wireline number as an alternative number.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for an alternative number ringing system that can support the simultaneous ringing of a main number and of multiple alternative numbers associated with the main telephone number and maintained in a call list. The system should enable the main number to be either a wireline number or a wireless (cellular) number. The system also should enable the easy configuration of the call list by a subscriber and should enable the use of multiple call lists.
An exemplary embodiment of the present invention utilizes a Simultaneous Ring Application that is installed on a Service Control Point (SCP). The Simultaneous Ring Application (SRA) can be implemented as a software and/or hardware application executable by the SCP. The SRA of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention enables the SCP to simultaneously ring a called telephone number and multiple alternative phone numbers associated with the called telephone number. When a calling party makes a call on the calling telephone, a calling Service Switching Point (SSP) contacts the called SSP to attempt to connect the call. When the called SSP receives the notification from the calling SSP that a call attempt is being made to the called telephone, the called SSP can recognize that the call attempt is being made to a subscriber of a simultaneous ring service. The called SSP can fire a predefined trigger to cause the SRA to initiate the simultaneous ring service.
When the SCP detects the firing of the predefined trigger, the SCP determines the called telephone number from a data packet sent by the called SSP over a Signaling System 7 (SS7) data link. The SCP can then access a database to determine the services that apply to the called telephone number and to the fired trigger. The SCP will determine that the Simultaneous Ring Application (SRA) should be invoked to simultaneously ring the called number and at least one alternative number in response to the firing of the trigger.
When the SRA is invoked, the SRA will access a database associated with the SCP to obtain a call list associated with the called telephone number. The SRA will cause a Services Node (SN) to simultaneously place outgoing calls to the called telephone number (the main telephone number) and to each of the alternative telephone numbers in the call list. Advantageously, the main telephone number can be a wireline or a wireless (cellular) telephone number.
The various aspects of the present invention may be more clearly understood and appreciated from a review of the following detailed description of the disclosed embodiments and by reference to the drawings and claims.